Sanitary tooth cleanser



Dec. 7, 1937. L. L. DE ROME 2,101,363

SANITARY TOOTH CLEANSER Filed July 2, 193s Patented Dec. 7, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to sanitary tooth cleansers.

One of the objects of this invention is to simplify and reduce the cost of construction, and to otherwise improve upon articles of this character.

The invention has reference more particularly to tooth cleansers, composed of a piece of textile fabric formed into a finger cot to fit over a finger of ones hand and having secured thereto a pad of pile fabric with which to apply tooth powder or paste and also to massage the gums, and an object of the invention is to'reduce to a minimum the number of operations necessary to fabricate the cleanser, whereby it may be manu factured to sell at so low a cost that the user may discard it after it has been used once.

In accordance with the present invention, the finger cot is provided with an extension in the form of an elongated narrow part which serves as a finger piece adapted to be grasped between ones finger and thumb to securely hold the finger cot on the finger while manipulating the cleanser, and the pad and the parts which comprise the finger cot are secured together by one sewing operation or the parts may otherwise be secured together by one and the same operation.

With these objects and advantages in view, this invention consists in the several novel features hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

The invention is clearly-illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, illustrating one embodiment of the invention in position for use;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a blank from which the finger cot and finger piece are formed;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the blank illustrating certain folds that are made to form the finger cot;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the completed cleanser, and

Fig. 5 is an end view thereof.

Referring to said drawing, thereference character 6 designates the finger cot, I the finger piece, and 8 the pad. The finger cot and finger piece are formed of one piece of material, such as surgical gauze, or other textile fabric, and the pad is formed of a piece of pile fabric, mohair fabric or like material.

The blank 9 (see Fig. 2) from which the finger cot and finger piece are made, comprises a narrow elongated part, designated in Fig. 2 by the reference character I. and a part 6, which is wider than the part 1 The end edge of the wide part 6 is rounded off, as at I, and from the round edge the edges H slope to the side edges I2 which edges converge toward the other end of the wide part 6. The other end of said a wide part has obliquely extending edges I 3' that converge toward the narrow part 1". Desirably the side edges I 4 of the narrow part 1, form a distance back from the wider part, equal to the length thereof, taper to the place where the wide and narrow parts meet, as at IS.

The pile fabric pad is of elongated shape, 10 rounded off at one end, and straight across or slightly inwardly curved at the other end. The pile is removed or omitted adjacent the edges of the pad to leave a free or uncovered margin II to facilitate sewing the pad to the finger cot. Desirably an adhesive or cementitious substance is applied to the back-piece of the pad to more positively fasten the pile to the back-piece, whereby it is not likely to become torn away from the back-piece during usage.

The cleanser is formed and assembled as follows: First the wider part 6 of the blank 9 is doubled upon and under the narrow part 1 along a line between the points I 5 (see Fig. 3) after which the side portions ll of the wide part, which project beyond the side edges of the narrow part are folded up and over the narrow part, as seen in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby forming the finger cot 6, which assumes a conical shape.

The pad 8 is then placed upon the folded over side portions H (see Fig. 4) and the underlying narrow part 1 and, in one operation, is stitched thereto by a row of stitches I9 along the marginal edge portions of the pad, which fasten it to the side portions ll of the wide part, and the edge portions of the narrow part I. In the manufacture of the cleanser a die or anvil (not shown) of the proper size and shape is placed in the finger cot portion during the folding and sewing operations to facilitate the work and to give the proper shape to the finger cot. Desirably several sizes of blanks and pads may be made so as to fit small and large fingers, although one or two sizes may be all that are required for practical purposes. Instead of sewing the pad to the folded over parts I! and underlying part 1, these parts may be adhesively secured together, whereby the cost of production may be further reduced. For the sake of cleanliness, the cleanser is sterilized after it has been constructed.

In use the finger cot is slipped over the index finger of the user's hand and the narrow part I is clasped between the thumb and finger, as shown in Fig. 1. Tooth powder or paste is applied to the pad and the teeth are cleaned in the ordinary manner. The pad, being relatively soft, may be usedtomassagethegumsanminasmuchasthe entire cleanser is composed of soft material, one is unlikelytoharmthe tissuesofthe mouthwith the cleanser. when used once the cleanser may be discarded. This feature is of great importance, because any germs that may have collected on the f cleanser are not permitted to spread to other cleansers, as is the case with the usual tooth brush where several are stored in a glass or otherwise held in close proximity to each other.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A sanitary tooth cleanser, comprising a single piece of textile fabric having a narrow elongated part, one end of which is a wider part that extends back part way over the narrow part.

- underlying narrow part, and stitched to said side portions and the underlying narrow part with one set of stitches.

mam L. DE Roan. 

